Hiking and photo tour in Fagaras Mountains

Thursday August 18th, 2016

There is a good number of people that come to Romania not because they were lured in by the famous landscape beauty, the gorgeous mountains or the any other world renown tourist attractions. The reasoning is pretty mundane: a business trip, a short or long term contract with a locally based company, a friend’s wedding, etc. Most often than not, people come back to Romania to trace back family roots, to discover the world were their parents or ancestors came into being and developed as individuals, before going to discover and conquer the world.

Once they are here, they can’t avoid the obvious: there are beautiful mountains on the horizon, promising tempting scenarios for hiking, trekking, mountain biking or ski touring trips. Or photo tours, as it was the case with Ilona this summer. She was looking at the Fagaras ridge from the flat lands near Olt reiver, in the village of Boita, and decided it’s the moment to go up there and see how it is.

It was simply gorgeous, with two nights at the warm and welcoming Cabana Barcaciu, with hikes up at Lacul Avrig, Puha and Scarisoara, with some mushroom picking and many, many photo opportunities!

Horia, August 2016

Testimonial:Wanting to learn more about the region my father grew up, I travelled once more to Transylvania, this time with my partner who loves mountains and adventures. Since it was the first time for me to do a hike, I contacted Iulian and asked for help. We agreed on a 3-day trip in the Făgăraș Mountains.

We spend 10 days in Transylvania by ourself with family and friends from Boița. Then the big day of departure in the mountains was there…

Horia picked us up in Boița and we went to Avrig where we left the car and started to climb up to Cabana Bârcaciu. Great forest and a very pleasant and comforting contact with Horia. At the cabana we were treated with yummy sandwiches and explored the region around the cabana in the afternoon. Blueberry-paradise !!!!! Forget all the blueberries you’ve eaten in your life… the one’s from there are the biggest, the sweetest… simply the BEST. Dinner was prepared with lots of attention, very tasteful. Well we needed the calories for the next days… We left after breakfast, again they spoiled us (gosh the homemade blueberry jam!)…

8 hours walking, well I admit I slowed down the two guys by stopping frequently to admire the view and take pictures – Horia used some of the time to find porcini – again so big and aromatic that I felt like being in a fairytale. We went up the lake Avrig, then around the Scara peak and over Scărișoarei plateau back to Bârcaciu. The second day we walked the other side of the Scărișoarei plateau. Word of these days was “Wow”… it was simply awesome, gorgeous, impressive, fun, exhausting, mind-emptying… a wonderful experience.

The hike, the scenery, the guidance, all exceeded our expectations.
Not to forget the night sky… all these stars, even the milky way so clear !!!
We thank Horia for all the nice moments, his highly appreciated advice and support in tricky situations. Big thanks as well to the “Family Bârcaciu” for the accommodation and the great food.

I’m happy to have seen another part of my dad’s beloved home country and met all these warmhearted people. This will always be a part of me and I cannot wait to come back to Romania…

And yes, there will be another hike.Jeroen and Ilona, Belgium, July 2016